978-1111826925 Chapter 10 Solution Manual

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND CRITICAL THINKING/ANSWERS

1. What type of communications medium would you use to conduct the following surveys?

Why?

a. Survey of the buying motives of industrial engineers

A personal interview conducted by a professional interviewer is probably the most likely type of

communication medium. Industrial engineers are busy individuals. The presence of an

b. Survey of the satisfaction levels of hourly support staff

c. Survey of television commercial advertising awareness

Most likely this will be a telephone survey during the program or within 24 hours after a certain

d. Survey of top corporate executives

This is a difficult question to answer. The survey’s objectives will dictate this answer. However,

telephone interviewing often is not the best way to contact corporate executives. Secretaries very

2. A publisher offers college professors one of four best-selling mass-market books as an

incentive for filling out a 10-page mail questionnaire about a new textbook. What advantages

and disadvantages does this incentive have?

The major advantage of any incentive is to increase mail survey response rates. The book

incentive, generally a fifteen- to twenty-five-dollar value, may stimulate a high rate of return.

3. “Individuals are less willing to cooperate with surveys today than they were 50 years ago.”

Comment on this statement.

The research activities of businesses have grown considerably in recent years. With this

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A major trend that is influencing door-to-door field work is that public safety has declined—at

Finally, it is more difficult to reach consumers via phone due to caller ID and answering machines

4. What do you think should be the maximum length of a self-administered email questionnaire?

In general, the same guidelines for printed mail surveys apply to e-mail surveys. That is, no more

5. Do most surveys utilize a single communication mode (for example, the telephone) as most

textbooks suggest?

The answer is generally yes. However, many times we do not have pure telephone surveys or

Sometimes it is necessary to make an advance call, usually by telephone, before a personal

interview may be conducted. For example, if a “test” commercial is being inserted into a

6. A survey researcher reports, “205 usable questionnaires out of 942 questionnaires delivered in

our mail survey converts to a 21.7 percent response rate.” What are the subtle implications of

this statement?

The first thing a student should mention is that the terms “usable questionnaires” and “delivered

questionnaires” need to be clarified. A usable questionnaire may mean that the researcher

duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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7. Evaluate the following survey designs.

a. A researcher suggests mailing a small safe (a metal file box with a built-in lock) without

The purpose of this technique is to allow visual props and visual attitude scales in conjunction

b. A shopping mall that wishes to evaluate its image places packets including a

This self-administered questionnaire is an inexpensive way of surveying shoppers. However,

c. An e-mail message is sent to individuals who have computers, asking them to complete a

This technique has the advantages of other computer interactive techniques; that is, skip patterns

can be imbedded into questionnaires on the website and automatically followed when respondents

make certain answers to prior questions. The program can also incorporate the respondent’s own

d. A mall intercept interviewing service is located in a regional shopping center. The

facility contains a small room for television and movie presentations. Shoppers are used

duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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This type of facility is extremely advantageous for television commercial tests, taste tests of new

“hot” foods, and other research activities that require props and materials that are difficult to

The major disadvantage of the research store concept is related to the representative nature of the

sample. People who shop at a particular shopping center are clearly self-selected. Thus, it is

important that the shopping center where a research store is located have a high geographic and

e. Time magazine opts to conduct a mail survey rather than a telephone survey for a study

to determine the demographic characteristics and purchasing behavior of its subscribers.

Only subscribers’ responses are included. Nevertheless, if this is the objective of the research,

8. What type of research studies lend themselves to the use of e-mail for survey research? What

are the advantages and disadvantages using e-mail?

In certain circumstances, such as internal surveys of employees or surveys of retail buyers who

regularly deal with the organization via e-mail, there are obvious benefits of cheaper distribution

9. [Ethics Questions] Comment on the ethics of the following situations:

a. A researcher plans to use invisible ink to code questionnaires to identify respondents in a

distributor survey.

Students’ opinions will vary, but they should realize that the purpose of coding questionnaires is

duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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b. A political action committee conducts a survey about its cause. At the end of the

questionnaire, it includes a request for a donation.

The research community is absolutely against this type of action. The purpose of a survey is

c. A telephone interviewer calls at 1:00 P.M. on Sunday and asks the person who answers

the phone to take part in an interview.

Most research companies do not call respondents when they will be disturbed or upset. Many

d. An industrial manufacturing firm wishes to survey its own distributors. It invents the

name “Mountain States Research Corporation” and sends out a mail questionnaire under

this name.

Like most ethical issues, this tactic is subject to debate. Those favoring this practice suggest that

e. A questionnaire is printed on the back of a warranty card included inside the package of a

food processor. The questionnaire includes a number of questions about shopping

behavior, demographics, and customer lifestyles. At the bottom of the warranty card is a

To begin with, this is a legal activity that several companies use to prepare databases for direct

marketing activities. There is no actual deception; however, the small print does not make it

10. [Ethics Question] How might the business research industry take action to ensure that the

A company that engages in this practice risks alienating the general public who is unable to

differentiate between research and telemarketing. Telephone researchers should emphasize to the

duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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11. Why is the mobile phone likely to be an ineffective way or reaching potential respondents

in America?

Regulations by the Federal Communications Commission make it illegal for researchers to use

12. The American Testing Institute (also known as the U.S. Testing Authority) mails

respondents what it calls a “television” survey. A questionnaire is sent to respondents, who

are asked to complete it and mail it back along with a check for $14.80. In return for

answering eight questions on viewing habits, the institute promises to send the respondent

one of 20 prizes ranging in value from $200 to $2,000 – among which are video recorders,

diamond watches, color televisions, and two nights of hotel accommodations at a land

development resort community. The institute lists the odds of winning as 1 in 150,000 on

all prizes except the hotel stay, for which the odds are 149,981 out of 150,000. During a

three-month period, the institute sends out 200,000 questionnaires. What are the ethical

issues in this situation?

The American Testing Institute appears to be attempting to bilk “respondents” with a scam. The

company abuses and misuses the word “survey.” No legitimate survey organization would charge

13. [Internet Question] Go to the Pew Internet and American Life page at

http://www.pewinternet.org/. Several reports based on survey research will be listed. Select

one of the reports. What were the research objectives? What were the first three questions on

the survey?

14. [Internet Question] Go to the NPD Group Web site (http://www.npd.com) and click on the

Store link. What types of custom and syndicated survey research services does the company

offer?

15. [Internet Question] Go to the CASRO (Council of American Survey Research Organizations)

home page (http://www.casro.org). Locate the organization’s mission under the About tab.

What are the key aspects of this research organization’s mission?

duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

1. [Internet Question] Visit this web site: http://www.zoomerang.com. What unique service

does this company offer? Then visit this site: http://www.qualtrics.com. How does this

service differ from Zoomerang? Create a short survey and e-mail it to 10 of your friends

without any advanced notice. At the end of the survey, ask them if they would have

responded had they not noticed the survey came from you. What is the response rate? What

would it have been if the respondent did not know you?

It appears as though both Web sites offer the same type of product. That is, both provide online

survey services. Most students will likely answer that response rates would have been lower if

respondents did not know they were sending the e-mail survey.

CASE 10.1 National Do Not Call Registry

Objective: To encourage students to think about the advantages and disadvantages of Internet

surveys and telephone interviews as well as to gain an understanding of the Do Not Call Registry

law.

Summary: Congress passed a law setting up a National Do Not Call Registry. By law,

salespeople may not call numbers listed on this registry, but charities and researchers can still call

these numbers. However, a recent Internet survey showed that less than 25 percent of

respondents knew that researchers “are allowed to call,” and over half (63 percent) weren’t sure

about researchers’ rights under the law.

Questions:

1. Was an online survey the best medium for a poll on this subject? What were some pros and

cons of conducting this poll online?

Internet surveys offer the advantages of speed and cost effectiveness, visual appeal and

interactivity, respondent participation and cooperation, accurate real-time data capture, callbacks

2. How might the results have differed if this poll had been conducted by telephone?

One difference is that perhaps fewer consumers would have participated. Response rates for

duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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3. As a researcher, how would you address people’s doubts about whether pollsters may contact

households listed on the Do Not Call Registry?

CASE 10.2 Royal Bee Electric Fishing Reel

Objectives: The purpose of this case is to teach students to understand the relationship between

research objectives and the information required for the research project. Students have the

opportunity to plan a research design and evaluate the type of errors that may be associated with

the research design.

Summary: Royal Barton developed an electronic reel for handicapped individuals who would

like to fish. The system works on a six-volt battery; when a retrieval button is pushed, the

electrical system engages two gears. Only one hand is needed to operate the system. A

professional who was temporarily handicapped now uses the reel on a full-time basis.

Questions

1. What business research problem does Royal Barton face? What are his information needs?

Outline some survey research objectives for a research project on the Royal Bee system.

The broad marketing problem is whether or not there is a need for this product: To learn if this

The company must learn if there is a market for the Royal Bee system and how large the market

As with most research problems for new product concepts, the researcher must eliminate the

scope of the research problem. Exploratory research is often conducted to help in this manner.

However, in this case on survey research the student should assume Royal Bee will not be able to

The purpose of the research will be to gather information about the electrical reel system from

individuals who have lost the mobility of one arm. This presents a difficult sampling problem,

• to determine current and past fishing behavior of members of the target group.

• to determine awareness of the Royal Bee reel among members of the target group.

duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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2. What type of survey—personal interview, telephone interview, or mail survey—should be

selected?

Students should evaluate the characteristics of each of the potential techniques.

Speed of data collection, a major advantage of telephone survey, does not seem to be an important

It may be assumed that discussing this product is not a very sensitive issue and anonymity of the

The notion of the electronic fishing reel is difficult to conceptualize. There does seem to be a

A major concern is that visual materials probably will have to be shown to explain the concept.

3. What sources of survey error are most likely in a study of this type?

It is very unlikely that simple random sampling could be utilized because a list of potential

individuals who are handicapped or have limited mobility in a single arm is not likely to exist.

How can one obtain a list of individuals who have only one arm or the use of one arm? Will

duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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In the survey, the degree of an individual’s handicap may be the first thing a personal interviewer

has to establish. Of course, this may be the most sensitive aspect of the study and some possible

A tendency for a social desirability bias and/or a bias due to the respondents’ wishing to please

the interviewers is also possible. A number of handicapped individuals may be so pleased that

4. What means should be used to obtain a high response rate?

The answer to this question will, of course, depend on which particular technique is chosen.

If a personal interview is chosen, the fact that the interviewer is actually going door-to-door is the

Probably more important, however, is to use some appeal to indicate that this research will benefit

duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.